Posted on 02/27/2008 9:49:41 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Star Jones Reynolds has never been one to mince words. It's no wonder that when Bill O'Reilly's most recent controversial (see also: racist) comments about Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama, were discovered by Media Matters, the TruTV legal analyst was infuriated!
O'Reilly, the curmudgeon host of Fox News Channel's 'The O'Reilly Factor,' was talking to a caller that was angry that Obama had said on C-Span that "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country."
The 58-year-old television commentator, who privately settled a sexual harassment lawsuit against him in 2004, responded to the caller by offering that of course they'd have to check the facts first.
He said: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels - that is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever - then that's legit. We'll track it down."
"Lynching party? Track it down?"
In the words of Whitney Houston: "Hell to the naw!"
Even better are the prolific words of Reynolds.
With her permission, The BV Buzz is running the current 'Today Show' legal contributor and the former 'The View' host's entire 'Open Letter' about Bill O'Reilly.
"I'm sick to death of people like Fox News host, Bill O'Reilly, and his ilk thinking that he can use a racial slur against a black woman who could be the next First Lady of the United States, give a half-assed apology and not be taken to task and called on his crap.
This week O'Reilly gave the following response to a caller on his radio show who was making unsubstantiated negative charges against presidential candidate Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Obama:
'And I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit. We'll track it down.'
What the hell? If it's 'legit,' you're going to 'track it down?' And then what do you plan to do?
How dare this white man with a microphone and the trust of the public think that in 2008, he can still put the words 'lynch and party' together in the same sentence with reference to a black woman; in this case, Michelle Obama? I don't care how you 'spin it' in the 'no spin zone,' that statement in and of itself is racist, unacceptable and inappropriate on every level.
O'Reilly claims his comments were taken out of context. Please don't insult my intelligence while you're insulting me. I've read the comments and heard them delivered in O'Reilly's own voice; and there is no right context that exists. So, his insincere apology and "out-of-context" excuse is not going to cut it with me.
And just so we're clear, this has nothing to do with the 2008 presidential election, me being a Democrat, him claiming to be Independent while talking Republican, the liberal media or a conservative point of view. To the contrary, this is about crossing a line in the sand that needs to be drawn based on history, dignity, taste and truth.
Bill, I'm not sure of where you come from, but let me tell you what the phrase 'lynching party' conjures up to me, a black woman born in North Carolina . Those words depict the image of a group of white men who are angry with the state of the own lives getting together, drinking more than they need to drink, lamenting how some black person has moved forward (usually ahead of them in stature or dignity), and had the audacity to think that they are equal. These same men for years, instead of looking at what changes, should and could make in their own lives that might remove that bitterness born of perceived privilege, these white men take all of that resentment and anger and decide to get together and drag the closest black person near them to their death by hanging them from a tree -- usually after violent beating, torturing and violating their human dignity. Check your history books, because you don't need a masters or a law degree from Harvard to know that is what constitutes a 'lynching party.'
Imagine, Michelle and Barack Obama having the audacity to think that they have the right to the American dream, hopes, and ideals. O'Reilly must think to himself: how dare they have the arrogance to think they can stand in a front of this nation, challenge the status quo and express the frustration of millions? When this happens, the first thing that comes to mind for O'Reilly and people like him is: 'it's time for a party.'
Not so fast...don't order the rope just yet.
Would O'Reilly ever in a million years use this phrase with reference to Elizabeth Edwards, Cindy McCain or Judi Nathan? I mean, in all of the statements and criticisms that were made about Judi Nathan, the one-time mistress turned missus, of former presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, I never heard any talk of forming a lynch party because of something she said or did.
So why is it that when you're referring to someone who's African-American you must dig to a historical place of pain, agony and death to symbolize your feelings? Lynching is not a joke to off-handedly throw around and it is not a metaphor that has a place in political commentary; provocative or otherwise. I admit that I come from a place of personal outrage here having buried my 90 year-old grandfather last year. This proud, amazing African-American man raised his family and lived through the time when he had to use separate water fountains, ride in the back of a bus, take his wife on a date to the 'colored section' of a movie theater, and avert his eyes when a white woman walked down the street for fear of what a white man and his cronies might do if they felt the urge to 'party'; don't tell me that the phrase you chose, Mr. O'Reilly, was taken out of context.
To add insult to injury, O'Reilly tried to 'clarify' his statements, by using the excuse that his comments were reminiscent of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' use of the term 'high-tech lynching' during his confirmation hearing. I reject that analogy. You see Justice Thomas did mean to bring up the image of lynching in its racist context. He was saying that politics and the media were using a new technology to do to him what had been done to black men for many years -- hang him. Regardless of if you agreed with Justice Thomas' premise or not, if in fact -- Bill O'Reilly was referencing it -- the context becomes even clearer.
What annoys me more than anything is that I get the feeling that one of the reasons Bill O'Reilly made this statement, thinking he could get away with it in the first place, and then followed it up with a lame apology in a half-hearted attempt to smooth any ruffled feathers, is because he doesn't think that black women will come out and go after him when he goes after us. Well, he's dead wrong. Be clear Bill O'Reilly: there will be no lynch party for that black woman. And this black woman assures you that if you come for her, you come for all of us." -- Star Jones Reynolds
By any standards, I should be, and yet curiously enough...I am not. I sort of recognise that:
1) It was all a long time ago.
2) It doesnt affect me today
3) Mr Lynch was not representative of Americans even then, and most certainly not Americans now (apart from Freepers :) )
So therefore I condemn him but I dont bear any kind of grudge. Of course, I could GENERATE a grudge if you were to encourage me to, say by offering me preferential treatment and lots of money. It does, after all, seem to be the gravy train to jump onto...
I love this! Bring race into this campaign at every turn! The more race injected into it, the more it will hurt Obama when white voters enter the voting booth in November.
One the day he died Saddam Hussein was all up tight with the words lynch and noose.
Could it be a common trait that anyone with the middle name of Hussein doesn't like the words noose and lynch?
I wouldn't believe anything LIAR David Brock, funded by George Soros, 'discovered'.
It was racist because only black people have ever been lynched.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddywagon
Paddywagon and Black Maria are slang terms for either a police car, or a police vehicle used to transport large groups of people who have been arrested.The word paddywagon is of American origin. The precise origin of the term is uncertain and disputed, though its use dates back to at least the beginning of the 1900s. There are at least three theories as how the phrase originated.
The most prevalent theory is based on the term "Paddy" (a common Irish shortening of Patrick), which was used (sometimes as derogatory slang) to refer to Irish people.[3] Irishmen made up a large percentage of the officers of early police forces in many American cities. Thus, this theory suggests that the concentration of Irish in the police forces led to the term "paddywagon" being used to describe the vehicles driven by police.
An alternative theory is similarly based on the term "Paddy" but states that the term arose due to the number of immigrant Irish being arrested for having consumed too much alcohol and taken away in the vehicles.
It could come sooner than that. We may see a repeat of the 1968 DNC riots if the superdelegates vote for Hillary.
If Hildabeast does well next Tuesday, that will dampen some of Hussein Obama’s claim on the nomination, but the blacks will still riot if they don’t get their way. I have a friend who has been buying assault weapons as fast as he can get his hands on them, I see why now.
Thanks for the reminder! I remember it well. Too funny. And, *ancient history* now.
There was also a skit once when Jimmy Smits was guest host and he played a new “token” Hispanic news anchor at a TV station. All the other employees started using exaggerated Spanish pronunciations for everything from Los Ang-uh-leez to on-chee-lawd-uhz, while he just spoke regular English, which shocked them.
When Michael Buffer is announcing the names of Mexican boxers he does that.
“From the fighting city of CHIiiiiiHUAAAAHuAAAAA, MEhhhhhhico! RRRRRRRAMOOOAAAANNNNNNNNN ORRRRRRRRTIZZZZZZAAAAAAA!”
REally funny
Don’t you know she was? These promos had Borat (Barack) doing some of the voiceover, saying that, like Jackie O, when his wife walks into a room everyone stops to stare and that her fashion sense is just so extraordinary.
Those aren’t direct quotes, just my paraphrasing of what I remember overall. Also, the first day, they were using a photo of MO that cast her skin in a very dark light, so dark you couldn’t make out her features at all - the contrast with Jackie KO was unbelievable, lol.
Then, someone must have complained, because the 2nd day of promos, they had changed MO’s pic to one showing her with a much, much lighter skin tone.
It certainly didn’t change anyone’s opinion, but I found it kinda “enlightening.”
It only strengthens my original point.
Some people who profess to be so in touch with their roots and proud of their heritage often seem overly keen on co-opting the ugliest portions of a heritage-not-their-own, using it as ammunition against those who they perceive as enemies...simply based on the color said enemies' skin.
Pushing Marxism is so true. I don’t post much about him or read any threads about him, because I can’t stand it - so I’m probably repeating what others have said - excuse me, if so.
He’s running a commercial here in TX before our March 4th caucuses and primaries, saying “would you believe that some CEO’s make more in 10 minutes than regular workers make in a year?”
My mouth was agape the first time I heard it and now I just mute the TV when it comes on. I had never heard that all people in the US were supposed to make the same amount of money! (But hey, I want *mine*!)
This is very scary.
I had to look it up, too. I would’ve guessed “down with the North,” as said by a Southerner - but I would’ve been way wrong (and I knew Whitney Houston wouldn’t have been saying that, anyway!).
Here’s the Urban Dictionary entry:
” ... hell to the naw
It simply means “hell naw”, but it really means “no.”
It’s used to describe surprise and opposition towards a comment and/or situation. usually in a major way
WOMAN: I need a huge favor.
MAN: What.
WOMAN: Will you pay my rent and bills? I’ll give you something to make it worth your while.
MAN: HELL TO THE NAW!!!!!!!! You just gonna use me, then set me up. ...”
What will really show the truth of Obama’s intentions, would be *IF* he were to be elected POTUS (Please No!), his followers were to stand and sing the Black National Anthem instead of the Star-Spangled Banner.
It happened here in Houston when Lee Brown was inaugurated as our mayor. I posted about this once here on FR and got shouted down and told it was a beautiful hymn or something. So, to answer your last question, yes, I think it’s possible.
In other words, Ebonics?
I do believe we are!
LLS
Star is a hypocrite. She thinks she is all that and throws fits when she is not catered to excessively.
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